Facebook To Incorporate Hashtags?
Hashtags: defined as those no space phrases starting with ‘#’ that so many people use on Twitter. Hashtags started out as a way for people to track specific phrases and trends on Twitter, but now they seem to have blown up on all social networks as a snarky way to add commentary – serving no other real purpose. Admittedly, we’ve always found it incredibly irritating when hashtags were used on Facebook for no real rhyme or reason. Now, those pesky hashtags on Facebook may have a real purpose.
The powers-that-be at Facebook are toying with the idea of using the hashtags to group conversations on a specific topic, much like what is seen on Twitter. This will help facilitate organizing social comments on television shows, movies and even event specific tags. Sources say that Facebook hashtags are currently in testing phase, but aren’t going to be introduced to the entire user population right away.
So what exactly is Zuckerberg seeking to accomplish by letting people use hashtags in their posts and status updates? Besides allowing ‘trending topics’ and popular conversations to have a common place to be archived; the hope is that Facebook users will spend more time on the site, scroll through chats, and ultimately consume more advertising. It’s no secret that Facebook’s user engagement is dropping, and the social heavyweight is loosing loyal users on a daily basis.
The Evolution of Facebook
The move to hashtags is all part of the Facebook evolution. Mark Zuckerberg has stated in interviews he wants Facebook to become a “personalized newspaper” for users; similar to Twitter’s end goal. This aligns closely with the introduction of features like the new news feed design, the ability to subscribe to users and the graph search. It’s important to note: Facebook pulled in $4.3 Billion USD last year: 4 times higher than Twitter’s revenue. The gap on the mobile platform is smaller, $249 million this year for Twitter, versus Facebook’s $851 million.
That said, Twitter is working towards closing this gap. By allowing advertisers to ‘pay to trend’ or have their trend promoted within a user’s timeline, Twitter assists in exposing brands to a wider audience while hashtags remain a unique or compelling way to drive up click rates. We estimate Facebook will replicate this model, allowing people/brands to pay to promote specific hashtags.
So what do you think about Facebook copying the Twitter hashtag model? And who do you think will ultimately win the social media ‘war’ between Twitter and Facebook?
Film Friday: How To Save Your Phone If You Drop It In Water
Surprisingly, 19% of all phone users have dropped their device in a toilet at some point. We don’t judge. Minute Hacks has you covered though with some of their top simple phone-saving suggestions:
- Take your phone out of the toilet immediately (hand washing can wait).
- Dry it off with some toilet paper (or equivalent – super absorbent is best)
- If it’s an iPhone, but it in a ziplock with rice ASAP.
- If it’s a different model, take out the battery/etc and place all pieces individually into a ziplock with rice.
- Be sure to check the white indicator strip (in the headphone jack of iPhones/in the battery section of other models) and see if it’s turned red. If it has, cut and paste a new piece of white paper overtop and take it to your service provider for repair (fingers crossed for a new phone!).
Watch the video to learn more:
Have you ever dropped your phone in water? Were you able to save it?
INFOGRAPHIC: Run A Business From Your Smart Phone
Running a business can be extremely tough – in fact, we find ourselves often wondering how businesses used to operate without the Internet or the help of a smart phone.
Today’s (brief) post/INFOGRAPHIC is outlining some of the best apps geared to help you run your business from the palm of your hand (via SalesForce).
Not Just Kooky Kids & Animals: How Brands Use YouTube To Their Advantage
This post is written by staff blogger, Tarra Matthews.
Nothing will grab a consumer’s attention better than a video from a brand; a product demonstration, a celebrity endorsement or an innovative commercial all demonstrate this perfectly. The problem is, brands used to utilize large budgets on flashy commercials to enter the video market, and this (as we know) is no longer a relevant way to spend ad dollars. Modern technology such as DVRs and Internet streaming mean that people are recording or downloading their favourite shows, meaning commercials are not making nearly as big of an impact to their intended audience. So where can you, as a brand, post your videos/commercials for your products where people will actually consume them? With a quick internet (or common sense) search, the answer is pretty clear, YouTube.
Undeniable YouTube Statistics
The user and viewing statistics for YouTube are pretty staggering:
- Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
- Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
- 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
- YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages
- 25% of global YouTube views come from mobile devices
- People watch one billion views a day on YouTube mobile
- YouTube is available on 400 million devices
Souce: http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html
YOUTUBE PARTNERS
With such amazing global attention, learning how to harness the power of YouTube is undeniably valuable, and brands have attained desirable reach doing so.
Basically, if you are a brand on YouTube, you have 2 options to advertise; run ads in front of other channels’ content as part of the YouTube Partners program, or you could run your own channel. The YouTube Partners approach has pretty wide appeal, more than a million advertisers use Google ad platforms, the majority of which are small businesses. (x) The advantage of these ads is that YouTube only places your ads on the category of videos that it feels your potential customers will come from, there’s no point of putting an ad for make-up as the intro to Wii U console review, it just won’t garner the desired traffic. The one drawback to these ads is that 65% are skippable. So again, if someone doesn’t want to see your ad, they don’t have to watch it.
OLD SPICE
The other approach for brands on YouTube is to have their own channel where they can upload their own videos, have people leave comments about the brand, etc. This approach is another way a company can develop the brand identity and personality, creating a personal connection with their consumers. One brand that did this very well was Old Spice. Back in 2010, the Unilever brand had a major viral/commercial hit on their hands with the ‘Old Spice Guy;’ the seemingly perfect, gentlemanly specimen who was a Jack-of-all-trades and could do anything better than your man. Who WOULDN’T want to smell like this guy? As part of their marketing campaign, the Old Spice Twitter followers were invited to submit questions or comments and then the Old Spice Guy would film video responses to them. The initiative was beyond successful, probably due in part to the fact that Old Spice Guy responded to some pretty famous names. Below is the original ‘Questions’ video & the video response to ‘Everyone’
HEINEKEN
Looking at current YouTube data, Heineken is the clear winner in beer market as not only YouTube leader but overall social media leader in their industry.(x)
So what makes them the best on YouTube? Let’s take a look at their channel. The branding of the channel is clear and it’s very user-friendly: props to their marketing department!
And the content itself is beyond creative. Their featured video at the moment is entitled “The Candidate,” and yes you’re right, it has nothing to do with beer.
This video completely focuses on the company culture; what it is like to work at the company. Customers who identify with a culture or personality of a firm aren’t just product loyal; they are brand loyal which is way more valuable. Clearly, the marketing and public relations firms & agencies at Heineken are rockstars.
RED BULL
If you want to see a company that knows how to market itself on YouTube, look no further than Red Bull. Besides being the major sponsor of some very popular sporting events, including Red Bull: Crashed Ice, Red Bull was the main sponsor of one of the most discussed stunts in recent history, Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the edge of space. That event was live streamed and the residual video from that jump can be used for a time to come in product videos as well as brand videos.
Red Bull has done their research when it comes to their targeted audience and brand positioning. Their sponsorship of extreme sports fits very well with the YouTube community as many BMX riders and skateboarders use technology (such as GoPro cameras) to capture their latest and greatest stunts and upload them to YouTube. When fellow extreme sports enthusiasts are searching and watching content on YouTube, Red Bull wants to be in there to capture a portion of those views, and boy have they ever. As of January 2013, the Red Bull YouTube channel had over 1.4 Million subscribers, (x) more than the next 2 top ‘Brand User Movers’ (Apple & Sony Music India SME) combined.
TARGET
A recent FORBES article ranks Target as the top retailer on social media and a quick look at their YouTube page shows why. Target has never shied away from strong branding; their logo is a bright red bull’s eye for goodness sake!
What they’ve done well is consistence. Their images are crisp, clear and easily distinguishable as Target. Their stylish shopping bag full of celebrity endorsements, product lines and partnerships don’t hurt either. Clicking through their uploaded videos you see: The Fray, Coco Rocha, B.O.B., and Brad Goreski, amongst others. The most recent edition to the Target family of celebrities, Mr. Suit and Tie himself, Justin Timberlake; when the guy makes a comeback, he does it in a big way. Check out his spot below:
What makes Target such a force to be reckoned with on YouTube is a combination of elements. Their content isn’t only fun, full of catchy songs and bright images, it is also informative. Without even stepping into the store, I bet the average person could name off a list of products you can buy from the retailer thanks to their videos. Their videos are also filled with tips and tricks from top Hollywood stylists on how to look like a star while sticking to a budget; in today’s image obsessed society, doing those types of videos well will definitely put you ahead of the competition.
RECAP
So what have we learned today?
1. Top successful brands should be using YouTube to share their video content with consumers, the facts and figures are too incredible to ignore.
2. A brand on YouTube needs to present their channel pages properly; make them user-friendly and make sure the colours and images presented represent the brand.
3. Content creation needs to be consistent and topical; if you’re a company that only posts a video every couple months, or on an inconsistent basis, you will be forgotten. Additionally, if you’re a brand posting videos than cannot relate back to your brand at all, what’s the point?
4. Be creative; such a clichéd phrase but still true. No one wants to watch a video of a spokesperson just standing there blabbing on about how useful or delicious your product is, they will click away faster than you can upload your next ‘masterpiece.’ You have a matter of seconds to capture your audience’s attention, don’t waste it.
5. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Use YouTube to develop your brand identity and personality. A video combines moving pictures, words and audio capabilities to engage a viewer more than a single sense medium such as print or radio. Written words can be misinterpreted, a well constructed video that shows what your brand is all about just can’t.
So there you have it, a list of tips and suggestions along with viable examples of brands that have taken over and used YouTube to their absolute advantage.
How will you utilize YouTube for your company?
2012 Annual Design Trends: INFOGRAPHIC
Shutterstock released their annual design trends INFOGRAPHIC recently to fill us in on what was most downloaded and what images made waves in 2012. Shutterstock released the following statement:
Here at Shutterstock, if there’s one thing we obsess over as much as inspiring imagery, it’s data. Add that to the fact that we license more images than anyone else, and you have a recipe for some pretty insightful trend forecasting.
We created our first design-trends infographic last year; this time, we took things up a notch, incorporating a lot more data, a lot more images, and a more in-depth look at what we see heating up in the year ahead.
Below are Shutterstock’s 10 takeaways along with the informative INFOGRAPHIC:
1. Long Live the Long Tail. Our Top 50 images of the year only accounted for 180k downloads. That’s a tiny fraction of overall downloads, meaning that communicators are looking for diverse imagery to tell stories.
2. If Vector & Camera got in a fight, Vector would win. Sort of. 36 of those top 50 images were vectors; 11 were photos and 3 were illustrations. But before you swap your camera for a tablet, note that photos still account for nearly 2x as many downloads overall.
3. We’re all obsessed with labels. Labels of every size, shape, and style were popular this year, from a retro bakery to Victorian-inspired designs.
4. Textures, patterns, and prints, oh my! Textures, patterns, and prints appeared in virtually every market this year, but were especially prominent in Australia, with retro vintage designs and abstract bokeh among the top downloads.
5. Brazil could be the next design giant. With several abstract and cubic images, Brazil is on the cutting edge of design this year. Take a look at the top 20 downloads for this influential design hub.
6. From Russia with Love. Solidifying its place in the world of fashion and beauty photography, Russia continues to churn out some of the most alluring images in the world. Follow the work of MGV and Serov and you’ll see what we mean.
7. The grass is always greener. “Green” may not be a new trend, but now instead of simply being green, we have more refined terms, from “sustainable” to “eco-friendly.” View a collection of our favorite “green” images.
8. Out with the old, and in with the (slightly less) old. If you combined all the searches for “Cats,” “Dogs,” “Retro,” and “Hipster,” you still wouldn’t beat the number of searches for “Vintage.” Everything from 70s retro to ornate antique imagery will continue to dominate this year.
9. Laws of Abstraction. Geometric and abstract shapes are on the rise, big time. From pixel people to 3D labels, see a few of our current favorites.
10. Less Is More. Germany might be the epicenter for one the year’s biggest emerging trends: minimalism. It’s all about cutting through the clutter with striking imagery to make an impact.
Taylor Swift: Growing Up & Changing That Image
The following post is written by staff blogger, Tarra Matthews.
Thanks to her recent shenanigans, the media and public are saying they are ‘never getting back together’ with Taylor Swift. Once the sweet teenaged girl with the blonde curls and nice voice, 2013 is quickly becoming the year America is falling out of love with Taylor Swift.
I’m not exactly sure that one incident started the downward slip from the crown of “America’s Sweetheart” but I’m sure she’s never been everyone’s cup of tea. When Taylor was first hitting the music scene she stated that her songs, especially those about relationships, were written out of her experiences with guys; but of course she’d never come out and flat out say THIS song is about THIS guy. So we, as the public, were left guessing/speculating about whom each song was referring to. But does this make the practice acceptable? If you listen to some of the lyrics they’re pretty negative towards her male subjects.
Then there was that very public diss of Harry Styles at the 2013 Grammys. Speculation says the song “We Are Never Getting Back Together” is about Jake Gyllanhaal but then she opens the Grammys with the song, speaking in a (horrid) British accent. Way to go Taylor!
Next strike against Taylor Swift was her Vanity Fair interview. In it, she responded to Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s comment on her seemingly serial dating policy stating that she loved Katie Couric and her quote, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Well isn’t that a little harsh Taylor? Both women have stated that the jab was meant to be a light-hearted joke, as are MOST comments at award shows.
But totally juxtaposed to the teenaged dating drama is the way too serious nature she carries herself in. It appears that she can’t laugh at herself, she can’t look at some of the things from her past a say, “Yeah, I suppose that was a little questionable.” That is the advice of PR executive Dorthy Crenshaw, “I’d tell her not to play victim this time and to respond with humour. Swift can earn points if she shows that she doesn’t take herself so seriously.” The victim thing worked with the Kayne West ‘incident’ because that was a one-time freak occurrence of a guy expressing his anger at the outcome of an award. The Golden Globes jab was based on an observation of sorts, a comment on someone’s life. Don’t dwell on it Taylor, move on. How are we supposed to forget things happened and on to the next scandal/news if someone keeps dragging it up?
Matt Ragas (DePaul University) provides probably some of the soundest advice for Taylor Swift – keep doing your job! Taylor Swift didn’t make more that of Anne Hathaway and Brad Pitt combined last year by starting feuds with every female comedienne in Hollywood. She did it by writing killer hit songs and performing to sold out crowds. “Part of PR is words and messaging, but a huge part of is also actions and behaviors,” he explained. “If she continues to put out hits and stays out of trouble, she’ll be fine.” So really, this time (in a specific way) she should pull a Kayne West; go out and rock that world tour, and just talk about the music. I mean it can’t be that hard to stick to topic.. right?
Sources:
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Taylor_Swift_needs_to_rethink_her_PR_strategy_14004.aspx
How To Build The Perfect Tweet: INFOGRAPHIC
With only 140 characters to convey your important thoughts and ideas you best be on point and not spouting nonsense. Unfortunately, this may be harder than it seems. But never fear, MarketingThink.com has compiled this blueprint (below) to guide us in our keystrokes.
Here are some key points:
- Make sure you’re spelling things correctly (duh); no text speak or missed punctuation. Use your own voice, with a professional delivery.
- Hashtags are your friend, use them to draw in non-followers to your content.
- If you’re adding a link, SHORTEN IT! A shortened link (like a bit.ly) takes up less space, leaving more room for the MESSAGE.
- Always leave around 20 characters blank so people who RT can add to the tweet!
- Make people WANT to share your tweets, make them engaging and include a call to action.
So there you go, all the tips required to make your tweets A+ share-able material.
A version of this post by Gerry Moran appears here
Playskool: The Latest Brand in Twitter’s Hot Water
It seems that all we are talking about lately are various PR fails. Our thoughts on the subject matter? We feel the more we talk about what is done wrong on social media, the greater educated everyone will become on how to do things right so they can avoid those red-faced moments.
Today we’re talking about Playskool and this message they tweeted about on Friday:
Now it may have only gotten 1 retweet and 2 favourites but the replies the message got numbered far more. Within an hour the brand was on the defensive, trying to ‘apologize’ to all the Dads (and Moms) out there they offended with the comment.
At first it didn’t seem that their Twitter person understood that people were offended:
But soon they came up with an explanation for their comment:
If they were trying to convey that sentiment I’m pretty sure there are clearer ways it could have been worded. Scrolling through Playskool‘s tweets for the weekend it seems that they had 2 or 3 go to messages they were simply recycling over and over. That didn’t sit well with followers either:
Perhaps the most jarred parent population were the families that include 2 fathers:
One of the most disappointing parts of their cookie cutter response is that there is no mention of families/parenting in the LGBT community. Not very forward thinking of the brand.
This whole mess erupted a DAY after Playskool posted this touching image on their Facebook page.
So what do you think of this whole situation? Was Playskool being insensitive to changing family dynamics? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Client News: Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada Gears Up For 18th Annual Gala Hosted By CTV’s Anwar Knight
TORONTO, ON (March 4, 2013) – Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is embarking upon their 18th annual Fundraising Gala on April 6, 2013 at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York (100 Front St West), hosted by CTV’s Weather Anchor Anwar Knight.
“Our gala continues to be one of the most magical nights for all those involved with Starlight. It’s a chance for our supporters, donors and organizers to meet and celebrate the work that we do to benefit Canadian children living with a serious illness or life-altering injury,” said Christopher Barry, President of Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada.
Starting at 6:00 p.m., guests of the event will be treated to a renaissance carnival theme including dinner and silent auction accompanied by a selection of entertainment and sideshows in order to raise funds for the charity.
Celebrities scheduled to attend include: Dragon’s Den’s Arlene Dickinson, fashion icon Stacey Mackenzie, CTV’s Amber MacArthur, MTV’s Matt Barker, YTV’s Next Star judge Mark Spicoluk, Love It Or List It’s Hilary Farr, cast members from television shows such as Degrassi: Next Generation, Murdoch Mysteries, and The Listener along with many other notable Canadians.
Starlight also welcomes an extensive list of sponsors and donors in support of their 18th annual gala. Supporters include: Presenting Sponsor, Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us; newly announced Diamond Sponsor, Great Blue Heron Casino; and Silver Sponsor, Playtex Infant.
The Starlight Gala remains one of the foundation’s largest sources for fundraising, with $300,000 in donations collected at last year’s event. Tickets to this year’s event can be purchased online by visiting http://www.starlightmatters.com/gala.
About The Starlight Children’s Foundation of Canada:
Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is a charitable organization that brings smiles, laughter and joy back into the lives of children with serious illness or life-altering injury through in-hospital distractive entertainment and out-of-hospital fun family events.
Website: http://starlightmatters.com/gala
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarlightCanada
About Toys“R”Us, Canada:
Toys“R”Us (Canada) Ltd., is part of Toys“R”Us, Inc., the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. Toys“R”Us, Canada operates 74 stores across the country. For store locations and convenient online shopping visit www.toysrus.ca or http://www.babiesrus.ca
About Great Blue Heron Casino:
The Great Blue Heron Casino, located in scenic Port Perry Ontario, first opened its doors in 1997 and has steadily developed into one of Ontario’s premier casino destinations. With 550 exciting slots, 60 thrilling table games and award winning dining, the Great Blue Heron Casino is the closest casino to Toronto. The project is operated by a partnership consisting of Casinos Austria International, the Steiner Group and Sonco Gaming Inc. on behalf of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation and OLG.
About Playtex Infant:
Playtex Products LLC, a division of Energizer Personal Care, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of infant products including the Playtex(r) Drop-Ins(r) bottle System and Ventaire(r) bottles; The First Sipster(r), Lil’ Gripper(r), Insulator(r), Coolster(r), and Sipster(r) cups; mealtime plates, bowls and utensils; OrthoPro(r) and Binky(r) pacifiers; and the Diaper Genie(r) diaper pails. Playtex and all other trademarks are owned or licensed by Playtex Products, LLC.
For interview requests or photos please contact:
Cory Stewart
Embrace Disruption PR
647.638.1586
Film Friday: Apple By The Numbers
We spotted this very informative (7 month old) video INFOGRAPHIC of Apple by the numbers, and felt it worthy of a share. Check out some of the most interesting facts about one of North America’s most successful organizations.
